Falling Ashes
by Blackbird07
Summary: This is the journey to the very First Hunger Games. It was the time of the Dark Days. Before there were the Hunger Games, there was the Uprising. An uprising that would never be documented and the rebels that would never be remembered. In the distant past Cora Draven, District 5, struggles to live in a world where the future isn't secure.
1. Prologue

**Prologue **

There was a time before the decay of civilization, before human nature hadn't sucked the marrow from the busy streets of cities and the brittle bones of the workers that held up its serpentine foundations. The loss of it was quickly forgotten. It was like trying to grasp a far off dream after consciousness had muddled the importance of its meaning. But occasionally, in the wee hours of night, there seemed to be something lacking, something misplaced.

Panem was a civilization lost. Under order of the Capitol, thirteen Districts were exploited for their resources and citizens. Thirteen Districts to make up the backbone of Panem, with the Capitol at the forefront. However, as years past after the founding of this civilization, injustices and great misdeeds grew until finally an uprising ignited. This was the first, and not the last, of the rebellions against the Capitol. What later would have been deemed the Dark Days was the beginning to the Hunger Games. What later the Capitol would shame would be the beginning to something greater.

To the Capitol these were the Dark Days, but for countless people these were the days of the uprooted. A time where the future could be grasped and the spark of hope was more than a fable. This was the rebellion that started it all. The one that would never be written in history books or remembered.


	2. In the Distant Past

**In The Distant Past**

Smoke rose towards the sky, its nighttime horizon bruised by clouds of grey and charcoal. In the distance a low grumble murmured throughout the sky, followed shortly by a flash of bright light. Within seconds blue flashes began to illuminate the outlines of storm clouds. However it wasn't the thunder that stirred the small encampment, which rested in the nook of the woods, it was something else entirely.

A gasp of icy air filled Cora Draven's lungs as she blinked her eyes open and peered into the darkness. Howls. She could hear the vicious wails of wolves echoing throughout the forest.

The only movement that came from her was a quick flicker of her silver eyes towards her rucksack. She cautiously gazed at her bag and caught sight of the gleam from her dagger. Its blade was poking out of the thick canvas. Her nose and cheeks were red from the cold and her lips were chapped. As she furrowed her brow a second series of howls sounded, this time closer and harmonizing with another melody. A melody that was far too human in nature to be the thunder. It was gunfire. Carefully she moved her eyes around the darkness, her hand reaching towards her bag. She was just about to reach the knife when she felt a cold hand cover her mouth. Her body tensed up and a muffled yelped sounded from her.

"Peacekeepers," The whisper melded with the passing wind.

Her eyes darted towards the owner of the voice and hand. He was blonde, though in the darkness of the night it was hard to tell. With a furrowed brow Cora jerked her head away from him and narrowed her eyes, "Wick, we need to wake up Penny and join the others."

Wick slowly looked around as a crack of thunder shuddered the ground, "Sorry, Draven. Not tonight."

"We can't just leave them."

"Oh yes we can, Cora," she watched as his breath rose to the canopy of trees overhead. They were in District 7. "Pack up, we're heading out. I'll wake Penny."

The gunfire was getting louder. It took her a moment to steady herself but the coldness quickly sobered her. Within seconds she had thrown on her coat and slung her rucksack over her shoulders.

"Penny—" She heard Wick whisper.

"What's going on?"

"We need to leave. Get up."

Cora peered down just as Penny climbed to her feet and shivered. Her auburn curls blew in the wind as she frowned, "So much for a good night's sleep."

Cora smirked, "You didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you?"

"Of course not, why should it be?" Penny quipped, groggily fumbling with her bag and coat.

Cora laughed but her laugh stopped abruptly when a warm glow appeared a few miles away. It was a fire, a fire that was growing, "Oh my God—"

"We need to leave now!" Wick shouted, charging into the forest. The girls quickly followed behind him, with the smell of fire and ash clouding their nostrils. Despite the fact that they were moving away from the center of District 7 the raging fire seemed to be following them.

"Damn Capitol Scum!" Wick roared, violently thrashing his way through the woods, "You'd think they'd try not to burn all their resources."

Cora was at his side now, "Oh c'mon, Wick, you know President Thorne only cares about guns and weapons ever since the uprising started."

Wick mumbled profanities under his breath as he corner-eyed Cora.

"What about the others?" Penny whispered to Wick, stumbling over rocks and roots as she tried to keep up with him and Cora.

Wick swallowed the dryness in his mouth, "They're gone."

"This was a recon mission, Wick! We can't leave without the rest of our team!"

Suddenly Wick whirled around, a slice of lightning illuminated his face, "We don't have time. If we go into the center of District 7 now, all of us will die!"

"That's easy for you to say, this isn't your District or even Cora's! This is my District, don't you understand?"

"This isn't up for discus—"

"My family is down there! My friends!"

Suddenly the trio fell silent. Cora awkwardly peered between her companions, waiting for someone to speak. It was after a few seconds that Wick pursed his lips: "We all have family, Penny. You knew what you agreed to when you joined the Libertarians. I'm sorry, but we can't go back."

Penny and Wick stared at each other for a long second before Cora finally interrupted, "There's no use in fighting. Let's keep moving. We have to make it to the border before sunrise."

A single howl caused all of them to peer down the hill at the growing fire. Shadows were visible now.

A wave of panic shook Cora's bones, "Run—" her hands reached out for Penny and pusher her forward, "Run, now!"

They broke into a run. Cora could feel her heart pounding against her ribs as she darted through the forest. Occasionally she looked back to see how close they were being tailed, but she never saw exact faces. All she could see were shadows and shapes. The frosty wind whipped her dark hair around her shoulders and face.

"The wolves are catching up to us, Wick!" Cora shouted to him.

Abruptly Wick stopped and lowered his bag to the ground.

Breathlessly Penny glanced around, "What are you doing?"

He didn't answer, instead he rummaged through his bag until he pulled out a blanket and a box of matches, "You two wait here."

Cora was resting her palms on her knees. Her silver eyes widened as she watched Wick disappeared into the darkness. Fearfully her eyes twitched to the sound of voices, it was then that she saw the face of one of the Peacekeepers. With urgency she grabbed Penny and dove behind a tree, her hand covering Penny's mouth.

"_Over there I think I saw something!" _

Cora closed her eyes and tried to keep calm as she heard the series of footsteps clamoring towards them. Slowly she moved her hand to where her knife rested. She was about to prepare for a fight when a sudden blaze caught her attention a few clicks away.

Penny looked to Cora, "More Peacekeepers?" Her whisper was barely audible.

The footsteps had stopped.

Cora smiled and shook her head, "No—" she allowed herself a breath, "It's Wick."

Suddenly the howls and shouts of the Peacekeepers changed course, they were heading towards the decoy fire. Cora sighed in relief and glanced around before moving, but rustling in the bushes nearby caused her to freeze. She could hear Penny mumbling something underneath her breath and raised her hand to silence her, while the other hand reached for her knife. Just as she drew it a shadow came bursting through the trees.

"Hold it right there!" She exclaimed, pointing her knife to the shadow.

There was a pause before a familiar laugh sounded from the tall shadow. Slowly Cora's furrowed brow softened and she lowered her knife, "Damn it, Wick, why are you sneaking up on us like that?"

"I didn't realize I was sneaking. It's good to see you're still quick on your feet, Draven," He smiled before grabbing his bag and beginning a walk, "The fire should give us a few minutes head start."

Cora frowned in annoyance as she watched him walk away. Her eyes flickered to Penny's face to see the same agitated expression.

"Damn, Wick," Penny hissed to herself as walked past Cora and stumbled after him.

They didn't speak for a while, afraid that if they did the wolves might hear them and lead the Peacekeepers to their trail. It wasn't until they were a few miles away that Cora decided to say something.

"Since when do Peacekeepers bring tracking wolves with them?"

Wick smiled ruefully and peered over his shoulder, "Since the Libertarians started to sabotage their bases."

Cora returned the smile, grabbing the straps of her bag as they trudged on. They walked for few more miles before stopping. Twilight was beginning to break through the stormy clouds. It had been days of walking through District 7's wooded wilderness but finally they had reached the edge.

In exasperation Penny lowered her body to the ground and gasped for air, "We lost District 7. That's 4 District's now that the Capitol has gained back control of."

Cora dropped her eyes for a moment before peering at Wick. It was obvious that he had heard Penny but his eyes remained on the stretch of land that lay before District 5. In the distance a field of power stations blinked in the dull light.

"Don't worry about it, Pen. Not everything is lost just yet," Wick momentarily looked to Cora as he spoke, "As long as they don't gain control of District 13 we can do this."

A crack of thunder sounded from the sky and white flakes started to glide to the ground. Penny peered to the clouds and then down at the ground, "The first snowfall of winter."

Wick's eyes narrowed as he glanced at the flakes falling from the sky and sniffed loudly, "It's not snow."

"What do you mean?"

Cora's lips parted as she caught a single flake in the palm of her hand. At first it did look like snow, but as she examined it closer she saw the frayed black edges, "It's ash."

Delicately Cora let the ash drop to the ground, joining the rest of what was left of District 7. She didn't have to look back at Penny to know that she was crying.

She lifted her eyes to the fleeting moon that shone from a part in the curtain of storm clouds and realized how tired she was. Ash covered her shoulders. For a moment she hoped that all of this would be worth it. That the future would be bright, but deep down something clawed at her. Inside Cora Draven's heart sank.


	3. Power Shortage

**Power Shortage**

They rested near the border until nightfall. It was habit for all the rebels to do this because traveling through Districts during the day would make them more noticeable. And noticeability was something that Cora could not risk. A long shard of lightning ripped through the night sky and a crack of thunder rumbled the ground. The ash had finally settled but in its place heavy rain poured. Her long dark hair was drench in water, and the coldness bit at her cheeks and nose. She could feel the roughness of the tree trunk pressing through her coat into her back but she didn't move. To her side Wick motionlessly sat, adjusting the meager tent that he had built so that Penny could sleep.

"We shouldn't have left them," Cora finally whispered through the chorus of rain.

Wick's blue eyes twitched to her and then back to the power stations of District 5, which were only a few miles away, "We can't risk our lives to save everyone, maybe they got out."

"And maybe they're being exported to the Capitol as we speak to be fed to the wolves," Cora was speaking literally, it was a practice that President Thorne enjoyed to implement on the Libertarians: feeding them to a pack of wolves for all the rebel Districts to see.

"You know we would have never gone back, Cora, they know our faces now," Wick smiled as rain slowly drizzles down the bridge of his nose, "I always thought you'd be famous."

Cora allowed a discreet smirk to twitch her lips upward, "Who would have thought it would be on the Capitol's most wanted ads."

"So why do you keep volunteering for these missions? It's not like you could lie if they caught you. You know you'd be put to death instantly."

Her silver eyes peered up at the lightning show in the night sky and then to Wick's patient face, "President Thorne and the rest of the Capitol think they can use us up like mules and drain us of food and water for their own greed, in my opinion all of them deserve to be punished for what they've done."

"And you're the iron fist?"

"No. We are, all the Districts, imagine if we overthrow the Capitol? The peace that could be made."

Wick dropped his eyes to Penny, "Imagine if we don't."

Her breath rose through the rain as she crooked her head towards Wick and stared at him, "It's best not to think of the worst case scenario."

"Right you are," The rain had caused his vibrant blonde hair to look dirty blonde, "But it's always nice to be prepared."

"Wick—" Cora's voice was raw from the cold, slowly she rubbed her lips together tasting the rain, "What will happen if the Capitol gains control of District 13?"

"You know what will happen, they're the driving force of this revolution. If District 13 falls we all fall," For the first time since they had started talking Wick adjusted his posture and groaned, "We should get a move on, those power stations aren't going to sabotage themselves."

"Can't we let her sleep for a little while longer? Last night and today were rough."

"No rest for the wicked, I'm afraid," Wick mumbled, reaching out to Penny to rouse her.

Hesitantly Cora climbed to her feet, feeling the weight of the rain soaking her hair and clothing. Even her rucksack felt ten times heavier as she pulled it onto her shoulders. She could hear her boots sink into the damp earth as she walked to the edge of the cliff and peered across the landscape at the lights of District 5.

"Ready?" Wick and Penny were now to her side.

She arched her eyebrow as she glanced between them, a low sigh blew past her heart shaped lips, "Let's get this over with."

The trek to the edge of District 5 went smoothly, they walked with more casualness then usual because the rain was sure to wipe away their tracks and scents. However, when they reached the beginning of the District they froze. Unlike District 7, which was surrounded and made up of trees and large thickets, District 5 was urbanized. Instead of spans of forests and fields, District 5 had factories, power stations, and blocks of buildings. The most daunting of all was the fence that ran along the perimeter of the District.

"Feel good to be home, Draven?"

Cora's eyes slowly traveled up the menacing steel fence to the spirals of barbed wire at the top, "Home sweet home."

"How are we getting around this?" Penny suddenly asked, her face read of fear and angst.

Cora tightened the straps of her rucksack and brushed the strands of her dark hair away from her fair face, "We don't go around it, we go over it."

"I'm not climbing that," Penny whispered in terror.

Stoically Cora glanced over her shoulder, "It's just a fence."

"My dad used to tell us stories about children from District 5 that would play near the perimeter fence, he said that even small grazes could kill someone from the voltage," Penny insisted.

Cora smiled and casually peered at Wick, "How about that? Neighboring Districts telling horror stories about District 5—" she whistled jokingly as she scanned the fence, "You think that's scary, you should hear what can happen if the power stations are left unattended."

"This isn't a joke, Cora," Penny hissed, fumbling with her fingers in concern.

"Relax, Pen," She harshly replied, pointing to a barely noticeable red light near the top of the fence, "You see that light, when the fence is on it's green, when it's off it's red. What color is it now?"

"I believe that's a nice shade of red, Miss Draven," Wick suddenly answered, smiling humorously as he twitched his light eyes between them.

"Which means it's off. My guess is that the power station workers are doing a routine check up, which means we only have a few minutes."

Penny pursed her lips in retaliation and crossed her arms, ignoring the fact that Cora was pulling her hair into a ponytail and preparing to climb.

"Are you just going to stand there like a rain cloud or move?" Cora impatiently muttered to Penny as she walked to the fence.

Wick casually nudged Penny and smiled, "C'mon Pen, don't be scared, I'll be right behind you."

"Comforting."

Cora paused for a moment before rubbing her hands together and grasping the wire of the fence. She squinted the rain out of her eyes as she began to climb up the thickly gauged fence. It was a fifteen-foot climb to where normal extension of the fence met the barbed wire. Her silver eyes quickly assessed the situation before she grabbed the red light and lifted her body up to the slight top portion of the fence that did not have claws of barbed wire threateningly waiting for her. A groan escaped her lungs as she wedged herself onto the fence and maneuvered her legs to the other side. Within minutes her feet were safely in District 5.

Her breath rose through the air as she hutched over and panted for breath, "See—" she whispered breathlessly, "It's a piece of cake."

Penny stared at Cora through the wired fence and narrowed her eyes, "You have to be kidding me."

Several minutes passed before all feet were on District 5's ground. And despite the cracks of thunder and heavy rain, a warm breeze blew in from the power stations.

"Cora, it's your lead," Wick whispered, cautiously glancing around.

She nodded silently, leading the way to the edge of the buildings, her body curled around the sharpness of the rough brick into an alleyway. Although she didn't look back she knew that Penny and Wick were close behind. A screech suddenly echoed throughout the streets of District 5.

"What's that?" Wick quietly inquired, pressing his body against the alley wall in sudden surprise.

Cora hugged the brick as she reached the mouth of the alleyway. Her silver eyes danced around the narrow streets, "Announcements."

"What?" Wick whispered in confusion.

Slowly Cora looked to him, "Evening Announcements."

"_All residents of District 5 are to return to their homes. Anyone found roaming the streets will be punished accordingly. Long live Panem and the Capitol." _

"District 5 has a curfew?" Penny asked.

"Something like that," Cora mumbled, setting her gaze on a power station a few blocks away, "That there," she lifted her hand to point to it, "That's the one we want."

Despite the fact that Cora knew she had to move, her body was frozen. Her right cheek pressed against the brick, the pinpoints of streetlights reflected in her silver cat-eyes. She wasn't thinking about the task at hand, not at all. Her mind was wandering back to when the revolution started. It had been two years ago. Famine and inequalities on the part of the Capitol had led to the Uprising. It was then that several Districts started to revolt, with District 13 at the forefront. Since that time, which felt so long ago, the Capitol had gained back control of 4 Districts. District 5 was one of them, it was one of the first to be seized back because of it controlled the power and electricity of much of Panem. Now she was seventeen, but it felt like she had lived a lifetime.

"Cora—what are you waiting for?"

She ignored Wick's words as she flickered her eyes to the power station. This was her home, and despite the razor teeth of the barbed wire and the maze-like alleyways and streets, she wanted to fight for what she had loved, for what she had lost. Her lips curled slightly as the rain trickled from the eaves of the building onto her head. She hadn't been back to District 5 since the first wave of the revolution. It was at that time when she lost her parents, her father was locked up until he went crazy, only then did they kill him and her mother was shot point blank in front of her. Sudden anger simmered inside her as she recalled the expression on her mother's face just before she died.

"Cora?"

Slowly she allowed those memories to slip away. Her eyes darted back to Wick and then to Penny, "Follow close behind me, the Peacekeepers have shifts so if you want to live I suggest you listen to me."

Penny nodded silently, her almond eyes wide in anticipation. Wick simply smiled, his strands of his blond hair falling in front of his eyes.

Cora moved like a cat, despite the fact that she was running through puddles and rain she barely made a noise. Even her footsteps seemed indistinguishable from the rain that pattered against the asphalt and cobblestone ground. Swiftly she leapt across the street and hid herself in the shadows of the wall. Only her fair hand could be seen as she motioned them to follow. They traveled on foot for a few blocks like this until they came to the power station. Anxiously she clenched her jaw and twitched her eyes to a set of Peacekeepers patrolling the streets. Another screech pierced her ears causing her to throw her back against the wall.

Instead of hearing another announcement, Panem's anthem started to crackle through the invisible speakers. Suddenly light filled the screens that were perched on the power stations' precipices. The face of President Thorne with the crest of Panem behind him came onto the screen.

"Son of a bitch," Wick angrily growled.

Cautiously Cora glanced at the Peacekeepers, they had stopped in place. All eyes were on the screens as the President spoke.

"_Yesterday the Capitol took back District 7—" _

Shots of District 7 leveled and on fire started to flicker across the screen.

"_In celebration for the emancipation of District 7 back into Panem, free food and shelter has been given to all residence."_

"Except for the ones who were killed or worse," Penny muttered underneath her breath.

"_This message is for the Libertarians of the Uprising. We ask that you stop this fight, to stop this war on Panem. All rebels that come forward now and aid the government will be given amnesty." _

Cora's face slowly contorted into an expression of contemptuous ire.

"_How many more must die before this pointless war ends?" _

Thunder rumbled over President Thorne's closing argument and Cora watched as the screens went black again. Her eyes dropped to the Peacekeepers near the power station. There were only 4 and they exchanged a small container of what could only be some form of alcohol. The rain dripped down her nose and disappeared under her coat. Slowly she moved her hand to the knife that she had placed at the belt of her pants.

Wick's eyes followed the movement until he saw what she was holding: the leather hilt of her blade.

"What are you doing?"

Cora soundlessly turned to him, "I'm getting into that power station. There's only one way in. Care to join?"

Wick peered at her knife and then to the guards. He paused for only a moment before nodding and searching for the gun that he had pawned off of a dead Peacekeeper back in District 7. Knowingly she grabbed his arm, "No guns, they're too loud."

Wick's blue eyes narrowed before he dropped his hand and nodded in agreement, "I'll go around with Penny, you take the front."

Without another warning they disappeared into the shadows of the alleyway. Her eyes stayed on the darkness for a moment before looking back to the guards. She observed them concisely. Taking in the way they moved and the weapons they had. They were definitely drunk, which gave her the advantage. A few minutes passed before she saw the discreet signal from Wick. He was using a mirror to reflect the light of the streetlamps. On cue she sprinted for a set of barrels near the guards. She moved like a shadow, jumping behind them with care.

"_Did you see that?"_

"_What is it?" _

"_I thought I saw something move over there." _

She adjusted the knife in her hand and licked her lips in concentration.

"_Don't be a baby, it's only the rain and thunder." _

A smile formed on her lips as she listened to the drunken slurs continue.

"_I'm going to check it out." _

The footsteps were sloppy and heavy, he was much drunker than Cora anticipated. She braced herself for what was about to happen, her eyes impatiently twitching to the ground. It was when she saw the tip of his boot that she took action. With as much force as she could muster she lifted her leg and slammed her boot into the Peacekeepers knee, a crack sounded. He toppled to the ground with a yelp, but before he could scream she cupped her hand over his mouth and slit his throat. Her eyes squinted as blood began to pour out of the slice in his neck and his body went limp.

Only a few brief seconds passed before she heard the guards yelling. Wick and Penny. Her eyes widened as she leapt to her feet and ran. Wick took down one of the Peacekeepers quickly and Penny had managed to knock out another one but the last one was still alive. His back was turned to Cora as she sprinted towards him. Her muscles tightened as she steadied herself for the collision. When she body slammed him she made sure to pin him to the ground as they fell. The Peacekeeper tried to grab the radio from his belt but before he could Wick snatched it and broke the receiver into pieces.

In anger the Peacekeeper kicked Cora off of him, sending her fly and gasping for air. His hand reached for his gun just as Wick grabbed a bit of climbing rope from his bag and wrapped it around the Peacekeeper's throat. Slowly his body gave out and he dropped into a nearby puddle.

The three stood in silence, each one catching their breath.

"This one's not dead," Penny quietly remarked, pointing the guard she had knocked out only seconds ago.

Cora's cheeks were red from the cold, her eyes tiredly peered at Wick, "We can't let him live."

Wick dropped his eyes and slowly trudged towards the unconscious Peacekeeper, "I know—" he positioned his lips as if he was about to say something else but he stopped. He stared at the man's face in sadness before he placed his hands on either side of his head and forceful snapped the Peacekeeper's neck. The series of cracks caused Penny to grimace.

"We need to hide the bodies," Cora looked back at the mound of barrels, "Over here, let's bring them over here."

They hid the bodies behind the barrels with a tarp pulled over them. Penny's face became pale as she stared at the shape of the corpses underneath the canvas.

"We have to go, we're running out of time."

Wick nodded in agreement but his nod stopped when he looked at Penny, slowly he wrapped his arm around her, "We had to, Pen. If we didn't kill them, they would've killed us."

Cora darkly watched as Wick comforted Penny. Suddenly she realized how unmoved she was by killing these men. That, in and of itself, was something that should have made her sick and pale, like it had done to Penny. But she felt nothing, only anger.

"We have to go," She repeated, this time her words sounded more urgent.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Penny weakly stammered, her body leaning into Wick.

Cora glanced from left to right, her lips tightening as she grabbed Penny on either side of her shoulders, "Penny, listen to me—we have to go."

Her response was slow and dazed; silently she nodded her head and peered up at Wick.

"It's alright, Pen," Wick comforted, "I'll look after you."

A sudden shiver shook Cora's bones, her eyes rose to the tops of the buildings that towered over them. She hadn't realized how long she had been staring above until Wick's voice brought her back to reality.

"You coming?" He said.

She whirled around. They were walking towards the entry to the power station. Out of tiredness she raised her hand to the side of her head and rubbed her brow. Without response to Wick's question she broke into a fast walk. They reached the door to the power station and hurriedly her hand began to search for a knob.

"We can't just walk through the front door!"

She arched her eyebrow at Wick, her hand finally grasping the coldness of a metal doorknob, "And why not?"

"There could be workers or more Peacekeepers."

"Trust me," was all Cora whispered before pushing the door open and walking inside.

The power station was made up of long and narrow corridors with visible piping along the ceiling and walls. The hollow darkness of the power station reminded Cora of a cavern or dank mausoleum, even the slightest whisper along these hallways would be amplified tenfold. They were heading towards the power control center. A large room filled with buttons, levers, and machinery that hummed with heat and energy.

By the time they reached the stairwell to the center, Cora's hair and clothing had dried slightly, causing it to cling damply to her frame. They hastily traveled up the metal steps. Her legs stung from weeks of hiking on foot through the Districts. As she had expected no one was inside the power control center. Her eyes twitched to a large clock on the wall. Her teeth harshly rubbing against her bottom lip in thought.

"Now what?" Wick asked as he tried to gasp for air.

Cora's eyes darted around the panels and machines, slowly she started to peel off her coat, throwing it to the ground as she ran to a chair.

"I believe you said something about sabotage?"

Her fair fingers started to examine the buttons and levers.

"Do you know what your doing?"

Cora pursed her lips and shrugged, "That depends."

"On what?"

"I've never actually used these machines, I only watched my father once, so I guess it depends on my memory."

"You know our orders?" Penny reminded Wick and Cora, "We're supposed to contact the team in District 4 before sabotaging the power to tell them about our team."

"Right—" Cora whispered, parting her lips as she studied the lights, finally she caught sight of what she was looking for. Her silver eyes brightened as she came upon the communication board for all the Districts, "Here we are."

Wick let out a relieved laugh, "You'd think the Capitol would be smarter than this."

"How do you mean?" Penny asked.

"I mean it's so easy, allowing one panel to communicate with all the Districts of Panem."

Cora bit her lip as she started to flip various switches, "That's where you're wrong, this is only the back up communication. The initial one is in the Capitol. Which is why we should use the word _sabotage_ loosely, because power will go down long enough for District 4's team to free the hostages but only for a brief time span."

Wick grimaced, his eyes moving towards the door, "I'll keep watch."

Cora rolled her sleeves up, "Good idea because when I push this button, the Peacekeepers will know that we're here," her eyes twitched to the clock on the wall, "We'll have 10 minutes."

Wick rested his back against the patch of wall near the door and revealed a gun, "I guess it's a good time to prepare for the worst."

Cora smiled slowly, turning her attention back to the communications panel, "Here goes nothing."

A series of clicks sounded as she pushed the button, in preparation she leaned towards the microphone. At first there was only white noise but as the static cleared a faint voice came through, "District 7 team—District 7 team is that you?"

Cora grabbed the microphone in excitement, "Yes, this is District 7 team, Draven speaking. We've made it to District 5 and are waiting for the green light to turn the power off for District 4."

Penny nervously bit her nail as they awaited a reply.

"How many of you are left?" The anonymous voice broke the radio silence.

Cora peered up at Penny and then over to Wick, "Three—" her voice cut out, "Look I need to speak to Farrow."

"He's not here."

"What?" Penny shouted, her almond eyes narrowing in confusion.

Suddenly white noise overtook the voice on the other end. In urgency Cora leaned closer to the microphone, "Hello—" she adjusted the dials on the communications board, "Hello?"

"Cora we're running out of time!" Wick exclaimed, cradling his gun as he glanced to the door, "I can hear people coming."

"I just need more time!" Cora shouted back to him, "District 4? District 4 are you there?"

The only thing that could be heard now was static.

"There gone," Penny finally said, brushing her auburn curls behind her ears, "If we're going to turn the power off we need to do it now, Cora!"

Suddenly Cora's hands were shaking, her eyes looked to Penny, "You're right—" she rubbed her lips together in a panic. Quickly she rose to her feet and ran to the power control board.

"Can you figure it out?" Penny asked, leaning close to Cora.

"Hurry up!" Wick shouted, anxiously fidgeting with his gun.

"I think—I just need to find the source code for District 4," Cora swallowed the dryness in her mouth as she examined the appropriate panel, "Or—" She shrugged suddenly, pulling out the knife from her belt.

"What are you doing with that?"

Cora furrowed her brow and unscrewed the panel, when she took the metal shield off of the machine her eyes narrowed at the wad and range of colored wires, "I'm sabotaging, Pen."

Her fingers grazed the numbers that corresponded to the various wires, "Lucky for you I know electronics," with bared teeth she slyly placed the blade of her knife underneath a green wire and slice through it. A siren suddenly sounded, causing Penny to cup her hands over her ears and Wick to widened his eyes.

"Did it work?" Penny shouted, her eyes moving towards a flashing red light near the door.

Cora returned her knife to its resting place and smiled as she watched the light board darken in the District 4 sections, "We got it."

"That's nice and all, girls," Wick suddenly interrupted, "But we really need to leave."

He grabbed Penny and pulled her towards the door. In the corridors the same red light flashed and sirens continued to echo. They ran as quickly as possible, so quick that it became clear that they weren't thinking about where they were going so much as how fast they were moving. Brisk footsteps rebounded off of the piped walls and ceiling, "Where are they coming from?" Penny shouted, her eyes peering around with anxiety.

Suddenly Wick stopped, his hand still tightly wrapped around Penny's arm, "Is there an underground entrance to this power station, Cora?"

She glanced around, "I think—I mean, there should be."

Wick tilted his head and angrily glared at Cora, "You don't know?"

"Am I supposed to know that?" She angrily retorted.

Wick dropped his eyes and shook his head, "We don't have time for this—follow me."

They dashed to the lowest floor and navigated through the series of hallways searchingly. It was after a few minutes that they found something. A manhole. Carefully Wick let go of Penny and knelt down. The cover of the manhole was heavy and warm. He groaned as he pushed it over and peered down. He could see a ladder and then there was only blackness, "Alright, Penny first."

Cora spun around as she heard the footsteps getting closer, shadows stretched across the end of the corridor, her eyes widened in panic as Wick grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the underground opening, "You next, Draven,"

Her lips parted as she felt for the bars of the ladder with her feet. She gave the shadows one final look before descending into the clammy tunnel. Water from the storm had filled the maze of tunnels underground, the icy water reached to her ankles as she narrowed her eyes through the darkness, "Penny?"

There was no response.

The noise of metal scrapping on metal caused Cora to look up to see Wick's form descending the ladder, as he moved the manhole cover back into place the darkness grew.

Her head violently jerked from left to right, "Penny?"

Still nothing.

"What's going on?" Wick quickly spat out.

"I can't find Penny, I can't hear anything—" Cora could hear Wick breath quicken, "Penny?"

A sudden scream caused both of them to break into a run. The water splashed around their ankles. They had no idea where they were going, only that they were heading towards the sound of Penny's shrill screams. It was as they turned a sharp corner that Wick and Cora stopped. A warm light was glowing, they could see Penny pressed against the wall and something else. A silhouette of a man whose face was disguised by shadows.

* * *

**Hope everyone enjoyed these past chapters! I haven't been getting much feedback on the story so reviews would be nice :)...I know this a different spin off of the Hunger Games but I hope it's enjoyable for everyone to read. I promise that the characters/storyline will unfold through the action and dialogue. **


	4. The Shadow That Became a Person

**The Shadow that Became a Person**

The shadow remained still as Wick searched for his gun and lifted it into the air, "Let her go!"

The warm glow of a lantern swayed to and fro and from behind the blinding light a voice softly spoke, "I hate to be the one to point this out but I don't really have a hold on her, champ."

Cora squinted her eyes to Penny, whose expression was rather calm for what was going on, and then to the person with the lantern, "We killed a few of your friends up there, Peacekeeper!" She shouted, nervously looking at her friend once more, "Believe me when I say we won't have any trouble killing you and getting out of here."

The shadow's laugh echoed throughout the tunnel, "The rebels don't have control of the trains from this District all the way to the west, you know that. And you better watch your mouth, sweetheart, I'm no Peacekeeper."

Wick peered to Cora before taking a few steps forward with the gun still pointing at the silhouette, "Show your damn face!"

Unexpected commotions suddenly started to cry throughout the tunnels. In surprise Cora spun around and widened her eyes, "They're in the underground."

"Look we don't have time for this," The anonymous person said, "Either you follow me or you die in these sewers."

Wick pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes, "How do you we know we can trust you?"

"You don't."

Cora twitched her eyes from left to right, "I'm going with him."

"Cora, no!" Wick roared, watching as she sprinted through the ankle deep water towards the light of the lantern. She dropped to her knees when she reached Penny and cupped her friends face in her hands.

"Are you alright?"

"I—I don't know," Penny's eyes nervously looked to the shadow.

The sound of splashing water and yelling was getting closer. In panic Cora pulled Penny to her feet and crooked her face toward Wick, "Are you coming?"

He still had the gun lifted in defense, his eyes dropped in a moment of stubbornness before he pursed his lips and shook his head, "Cora you're a stupid girl sometimes."

She ignored his comment, darting her silver eyes to the shadow, "So? Are we going to move or just stand here until we rot away?"

For the first time since they had met the anonymous shadow, Cora saw the first glimpses of his face. The lantern's light illuminated a devious smile and a faint glimmer in the boy's eyes. He was tall, taller than Wick but less muscular.

He continued to smile as he spoke, "Let's get out of this hell hole, better put this light out," harshly he threw the lantern against the wall and bolted into a run.

In surprise Cora jumped and furrowed her brow as flickers of electricity diminished into the water, "Who is this guy?"

Wick glared at Cora before pushing forward with the girls running close behind. Cora had no idea where they were going, only that she was following the shadow of a person that could very well be a friend of the Capitol, trying to lure them to their deaths. The icy water lapped around her legs as she struggled to keep up with him. In the darkness, however, things became muddled. Although she could hear Wick and Penny shouting to one another, their voices were far away. She paused in fear, somewhere along the way she had taken a wrong turn. Peacekeepers were coming up close behind.

She rubbed the sides of her head as she looked around for any signs of her friends, "Wick? Wick, where are you?"

Her voice echoed throughout the system of tunnels, she knew that it was a terrible idea to say anything but her nerves were taking hold of any common sense that still lingered inside her. It was then that she turned to see them. Two Peacekeepers were standing in front of her. They shone their handheld lights on her, blinding her for an instant.

"Put your hands up!" One of them shouted.

Cora didn't listen. Her hands remained to her side.

"Put them up now!" The other Peacekeeper urged.

Without warning she tried to make a run for it but one of the Peacekeepers was prepared. He shoved her so hard that she flew against the rock wall of the tunnel, the frosty water drenching her once more. She attempted to crawl away but the other Peacekeeper pinned her down, shoving her head into the water. Her fingers searched for her knife, and as she wrapped them around the leather hilt and pulled the blade out of its resting place she slashed at the Peacekeeper. A deep gasp sounded from him but he quickly reacted. He grabbed her wrist and fought her for the knife until finally it was in his hand. The next thing she felt was a deep and painful sting in her left arm.

A scream of agony bellowed out of her, he had stabbed her with the knife.

"Hold it. I know her face," The still standing Peacekeeper said, shining the light onto her face, "She's one of the rebels the Capitol's been showing on the announcements, I'm calling it in."

Cora could feel the blood seeping out of the wound in her upper arm, but she still tried to fight the Peacekeeper off of her. After seconds of wrestling against the weight of the Peacekeeper she dropped her arms. It was no use, he was much stronger than she was and her disadvantages were outnumbering any hope she could have. It was then that she saw the shadow, he came out of nowhere, quick and sudden like a flash of light.

A gunshot rang out. Cora heard a body drop into the watery ground. The Peacekeeper holding her down turned around and another shot pierced her ears. She could feel the Peacekeepers body go limp, slowly his lifeless form dropped. He had been shot through the head. In pain she writhed on the ground, the water stinging her wound.

"Get up!" The boy said.

She grimaced and moaned, "I can't," she whispered, "I'm hurt."

Slowly he crouched beside her and fumbled in the darkness for one of the Peacekeeper's lights, "It's only your arm, you can still walk."

In anger Cora bared her teeth and shoved him away from her, she groaned as she climbed to her feet and cradled her arm close to her body. She noticed that a smile had formed on his lips as he offered her something through the darkness, from the silver gleam she could see that it was her knife, "I believe this is yours?"

Her eyes narrowed as she reached out for it with her good arm and shoved it into the sheath along her belt.

"Now—" He leaned close to her, "Let's go, and try not to get lost again."

He started running, this time slower than before. She quickly followed him, trying to ignore the pain in her arm as she did so. She could feel the blood draining out of her face. Coldness crept into her skin as she stumbled in her step and clawed at the tunnel walls.

"Wait!" she snapped, grinding her teeth as she grabbed her knife wound.

He slowed down and peered over his shoulder, "What are you doing? Peacekeepers are still down here!"

Her lips parted as her silver eyes began to roll back, "I feel—I feel—" A gasp shudder from her as her legs gave out. She would have fallen face first into the icy water but he darted towards her, catching her before she could.

His dark eyes dropped to her face as he picked her up and began running once more, "Damnit."

She heard him muttering things to himself as he held her and sprinted. She tried to stay awake, not trusting who this person was, but slowly darkness crept over her and her eyes slowly shut.

* * *

The first thing she felt when she awoke was a cold breeze and then a searing sting. Slowly her eyes opened to see an unfamiliar face. In shock she gasped and drew back, "Who the hell—"

The boy in front of her cupped his hand over her mouth and placed his finger to his lips, "Would you calm down. You're friends are right there."

She looked to where he was pointing, seeing Wick and Penny sleeping a few feet away. Her eyes darted around in confusion. She couldn't figure out where they were, there were pipes and rusted wheels and levers. As she continued to concentrate on her surroundings she could hear water trickling.

"Where are we?"

"A small storage facility underground, we're safe—for now. It's off the maps, the Peacekeepers won't know where to find us and the water has dulled our trail."

Her eyes tiredly peered to the boy's face, suddenly she realized that the person in front of her was the same shadow they had met and followed in the tunnels. It took her a brief second to recall everything that had happened, the sabotage, the running, and then the pain in her arm. She studied his face and qualities. He had dark eyes, brown hair, and very sharp features. Dark circles were under his eyes as if he hadn't slept for days.

Her eyes slowly dropped to his hands, he was threading a needle.

"This is going to sting."

Her lips parted as she watched him pull back the sleeve of her shirt to reveal the wound.

Anxiously she stopped his hand, her eyes glancing from the needle to his face, "What are you doing?"

"If I don't sew up the wound then it might get infected," He arched his eyebrow as he pulled his hand away from her.

"Have you done this before?"

He smiled, carefully placing the point of the needle close to her skin "A few times."

She winced as the needle pierced her skin and she felt the thread pull through her skin.

The boy's eyes twitched to her, "It only needs a few stitches, he got you at an angle."

"Well don't look at me, look at what you're doing!" She exclaimed, "I don't want you sewing my shirt to me."

A low laugh simmered from his lungs as dropped his eyes and continued his work.

She allowed him to work, not speaking until he had finished and was cleaning her stitches and wound, "Who are you?" beads of sweat had formed on her brow, her head was pressed against crates.

"My name is Atlas Norewood."

"So Atlas, do you make a habit of wandering through underground tunnels at night?"

"I do when I'm given orders to do so."

Suddenly her eyes brightened in interest, her lips curling as he wrapped bandages around her arm, "Orders?"

Atlas smiled wryly, "I'm from District 13, I'm all that's left of the team from District 4."

Cora shook her head, "No—I spoke to the team, they told me—"

"No you didn't, 7 hours ago the Capitol took control of District 4 again," he dropped his eyes to a small fire that crackled nearby, he twirled the piece of meat that rested just above the heat, "I barely got out, I hid in the cabin of a cargo train. Luckily I got a hold of the blueprints to several District 5 buildings and to the underground."

"Then that means—"

"Farrow's dead," he said it without sadness or emotion, his eyes stared into the flames, "Which means our missions are done, we have to go back to District 13."

Cora tilted her head up and closed her eyes. Farrow was one of the rebel leaders. Without him half of the Libertarians were without a leader.

"You should eat something," He pulled the meat off of the stick and offered her half, "Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

"I'm not hungry," She lied, turning her face away from him, into the shadows.

"Don't be proud," His hand extended the meat, "I saw the footage of District 7, there's no way you could have eaten in that mess."

Her hands shook as she reached for the meat. Carefully she took it from him, gingerly tearing off pieces and putting them in her mouth. He was right. They hadn't eaten for days, save for a few pieces of stale bread. She ate the meat slowly, afraid that if she ate too fast that it wouldn't stay down.

"How did you know where to find us?"

"You ask a lot of question."

"I don't trust you."

Atlas twitched his dark eyes to Cora and formed a bent smile with lips, "Well let's put it this way, if I wanted to kill you I would have done it when you were unconscious."

She stared at him, grimacing as she tensed her muscles and felt her wound burn, "How did the Capitol know that some of us were in District 4? Only a few people were privy to that information."

He leaned towards her cautiously, his eyes studying her face, "Because if I'm not mistaken I think we have a mole."

Cora's silver eyes were wide in shock, "That can't be."

"How well do you know them?" He inquired nodding his head towards Cora's sleeping friends.

"Are you implying that one of them could be a spy?" She whispered angrily.

"I'm accusing, not implying."

"You don't even know us."

Casually he discard the bones of the meat into the fire and raised his eyebrows, "You didn't answer my question."

With tightened lips she brushed a few strands of her dark hair away from her eyes, "And what makes you think that I'm not a spy?"

The smile returned to his face, "I've seen your face all over the Capitol's ads. If there's anyone I decide to trust out of this bunch it's going to be you."

"Well maybe that's your first mistake."

He stared at her for a moment before leaning back and sighing, "Do you have family left?"

Cora furrowed her brow, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Do you?"

"No—they died in the first wave. I'm—alone."

She could her a dull chuckle sound from him, when she turned to look he had a water jug lifted to his lips.

"What the hell is so funny?"

"You expect me to think that you're a spy when the Capitol killed your family. If there's anything that makes someone rebel, it's seeing their family slaughtered. You just proved why you're trustworthy."

Cora relaxed her face, her eyes studied Atlas with shrewdness.

"I'm only saying this to you, Cora—that is your name isn't it?"

She silently nodded.

"I'm only saying this to you, Cora, because when I ran into your friend Penny down here, she didn't seem half as scared as she should."

Her silver eyes twitched to Penny's unconscious body, "What are you saying? That you don't trust her because she wasn't scared enough for you? She couldn't hurt a fly."

He leaned his head back and stared at the beams overhead, "You should get some sleep."

"What about you?"

Atlas poked at the fire with a shard of metal, "I haven't slept for awhile, I couldn't if I tried. Besides someone should keep watch."

Hesitantly she lowered her head to her bag, cradling her arm carefully as she stared at him through the dim light of the fire, "Do you have family?" She quietly whispered.

He lowered his eyes to her and grinned, "Everyone I love is in District 13."

"So why should I trust you?" there was no malice in her voice, only curiosity.

"You shouldn't," Atlas pulled off his coat and leaned his body against the crates as his hands search for something. When he held it up into the light Cora's body went tense. It was a gun.

"But if it will make you more comfortable," he smiled as he placed it on the ground and slid it towards her, "You can hold onto that for me."

She stared at the gun for a long while before reaching out for it with her good arm. The weight of the weapon caused her wrist to hitch. She held it up to the light of the flames, "No—" her eyes slowly looked to Atlas as she threw it back to him, "You'll need it, just in case I try to attack you in the night."

He caught the gun in midair with a smile and peered between it's metal body and then to Cora, "Was that a joke?"

Cora nuzzled her face against her bag and closed her lips into a faint smirk, "I guess we'll find out."

Her eyes remained on the outline of his face against the fire, but as the weight and tiredness of the night took hold of her she slowly closed her eyes. She could feel her muscles relaxing. She didn't mind the hard floor or the cold breeze that blew through the tunnels and into the small room. Peacefully she drifted into a slumber.

Hours of daylight past, but winter was coming and with it shorter days. It wasn't long before the sun was setting again. It would be time to move again.

"Draven!"

Her eyes were still closed, but her senses suddenly roused. She could feel someone shaking her. When she opened her eyes she saw Wick kneeling over her, his blue eyes were wide and his blonde hair highlighted by the faint generic illumination from a flashlight.

"Wick?" She groggily mumbled.

Slowly someone else came into her view, Atlas was standing over them, his eyebrows were raised, "Rise and shine, time to leave."

"It's nighttime already?"

Howls suddenly sounded in the distance.

"Tracking wolves," she whispered, jolting her body into a sitting position.

Atlas threw on his coat and stamped on the remnants of the fire from the previous night, "Which is exactly why we need to move. My guess is that they got sick of doing a routine search, they know were down here and they're trying to sniff us out."

Cora shivered as she climbed to her feet and peered down at the bandaged wound. It was stiff and as she moved her arm it was like the knife was stabbing her all over again. Tiredly she looked up to see Penny patiently waiting near Wick.

After a few seconds Cora began searching for her rucksack that she had been lying on but it was no where to be seen, "Where's my bag?"

"I took the liberty of carrying it, you'll just move slower with that wound of yours if you have to lug a bag," Atlas replied.

Cora pursed her lips disapprovingly, "I don't need _your_ help."

When she looked at him a wry smile stared back at her, "You can complain all you want, I'm not giving you your bag."

In defiance she glared at Wick, "Tell him to give me my bag!"

"Sorry, Draven—I agree."

She licked her lips and shook her head, "Fine—but I'm carrying my knife still."

Abruptly she started walking, clenching her jaw as she pulled on her coat and buttoned it. She could hear Atlas laughing in amusement, "Just don't stab yourself with it this time," he joked.

Unlike Cora had expected, they were walking towards where the maze of tunnels was waiting. It wasn't until they reached the beginning of the burrows that she spoke up, "What are we doing? I thought you said they were scouting the tunnels?"

Atlas bared his teeth as he revealed his gun and glanced through the darkness, "They are, but I've been keeping watch. We should be good, all we need is an hour."

"An hour?" She whispered in worry, "Are you kidding me?"

Dryly he glanced back to Cora, "No."

"I agree with Cora—I don't think we should go this way," Penny suddenly said.

Slowly Atlas peered at Penny, his eyes narrowed in scrutiny, "Worried you're going to run into Peacekeepers?"

"Aren't we all?" Penny exclaimed.

He stared at her for a while before rubbing his chin, "Look, this is the only way out, anyone that wants to join me is welcomed—" his voice cut off as turned the corner and disappeared into the darkness. Cora could hear the splash as he entered the tunnel system.

"He seems to know what he's doing," Wick whispered, "What have we got to lose?"

Skeptically Cora arched her eyebrow, and pushed Wick out of her way. Despite the fact that she didn't trust the situation there was no other choice. She winced as she maneuvered her body around the corner of the tunnels and cautiously moved towards the shadow of Atlas.

They traveled through miles of tunnels. It was after what seemed like eternity of twists and turns that they came to a stop. Cora's head tilted up as she heard what sounded like a waterfall.

"What's that?" She whispered through the darkness.

Atlas was to her side and Wick and Penny were behind her. She watched as Atlas took two long strides forward, "We're here."

Cora peered around in confusion, "Here where?"

He glanced at her and turned a corner, "The opening, the mouth of the underground."

She followed him suddenly realizing what he was talking about. In the distance she could see a broad opening where the tunnel ended. Moonlight filtered in, causing the, now, quickly rushing water around their ankles to look like liquid obsidian. Carefully she walked to the edge, squinting her eyes at the landscape that was several feet below. The opening of the tunnels came out of a cliff.

"How are we getting down that?" Penny slowly asked, her eyes wide in anxiety.

"Climbing, of course," Wick answered.

Cora peered at the drop, listening to the sound of the water hitting the rocks below, "That's going to be a hell of descent."

"I hope you guys brought rope," Atlas added.

Wick nodded and laughed, "Lucky for you guys I picked some up in District 7 when the riots were getting out of hand. I'll set it up."

Cora placed her hands on her hips and watched her breath rise through the air, "Okay, we'll rest for a bit and then—" her eyes fearfully looked down once more, "—we'll go."

The coldness was biting at her exposed skin.

"I'm just going to—I think I dropped something—I'll be back," Penny quietly said, placing her hands on the straps of her bag.

Cora peered back, arching her eyebrow, "Do you want me to come?"

"No, no—I think I can manage."

She stared after her for a while before looking back to where Atlas was helping Wick with rope.

"Are you sure she'll be alright by herself?" he asked, she could hear the doubt in his voice.

"It's fine."

He dropped his eyes, peering past Cora into the darkness with skepticism. Penny didn't arrive back until the boys had secured the rope. Wick was just going over the logistics of how they were going to descend when she pattered through the water, her face flushed.

"I think it would be smart if Cora went with either Atlas or myself, you can't properly maneuver yourself with that knife wound…I doubled up the rope so that it should be able to hold two people at a time. I should probably stay up here so that I can work the rope, you can go with Atlas."

Cora nodded in annoyance, silently damning herself for getting stabbed.

"So—" Wick waved her over, "C'mon, Cora, we can't just stay here all night."

"Yea, yea—" She grumbled, rising to her feet and sloshing through the water. She glanced up at Atlas and frowned, "What happens if we fall?"

Wick shrugged, "My guess is you'll die, maybe break a few bones if you're lucky."

She dropped her eyes, ignoring the fact that she was being tied to a complete stranger, "Great," she mumbled.

Atlas pulled her closer to the edge, "Don't worry, maybe if I'm feeling generous I'll break your fall."

She was about to reply to his snide remark when he jumped, sending them falling for a few feet before he grabbed the rope and pressed his boots up against the wall. It took them several minutes to repel down the cliff.

When they had finally landed on the ground, Cora violently wiggled out of the rope, "You couldn't have given me a warning?"

Atlas widened his eyes, "I thought I was doing you a favor, that way there was no anticipation."

"Well that's just—" she pursed her lips and shook her head. She refused to finish her thought, slowly her eyes traveled up towards where the water was pouring out of the cliff, "Wick! We made it!"

Almost instantly the rope was pulled up towards the opening. She kept her eyes on the mouth of tunnel, not wanting to look at Atlas. Nervously she rubbed her lips together waiting for the shapes of her friends to travel into the moonlight.

"You don't like me very much, do you?"

Her eyes twitched to him, he was leaning up against a tree, "I don't know you."

"Well I did save your life, not to mention I sewed that bloody wound up for you," She watched as he pulled a piece of tall grass from the ground and twirled it in between his fingers, "Normal people would at least say thank you."

Her eyes narrowed with contempt, "Thanks," she harshly sneered, peering back up the cliff. Wick and Penny were half way down.

"You know, in the criminal ads it says that you've killed over ten Peacekeepers, maybe more, and that you're suspected of being the instigator behind the bread riots in District 9," He continued, from the tone of his voice she knew he was smiling, "Is all that true?"

Cora sniffed loudly, dropping her eyes to her boots, "Does it matter?"

"I was just curious."

Sadly she peered towards him, "I've done what I've had to."

His smile faded and for the first time he looked away, awkwardly shoving his free hand into his trouser pocket, "I was hoping I'd meet you. The Capitol has a large prize on the heads of you and several other notorious Libertarians. You better hope they never get their hands on you."

She couldn't help the mocking smile that appeared on her face, just to think that someone wanted to meet her for the crimes she's done against the Capitol was both surprising and humorous, "Was hoping?"

He laughed, shrugging casually, "I think the charm wore off when you opened your mouth."

A sudden breeze billowed through the rocky slope they were standing on, causing her dark hair to carelessly dance around her shoulders, face and back, "Can't win them all, can you?"

He straightened himself up, watching Wick and Penny wrestle with the ropes and walk towards them, "I'm living proof of that." Atlas sighed deeply before meandered up the slope to get a better look at the land, he inspected the stretches of land:

"We need to start walking if we're going to stay on target time."

"Target time?" Wick asked, "I thought we were going back to District 13."

Atlas smiled, "Well we're not walking all the way there, if we want to catch the transport train home—" he caught himself, "I mean to District 13, we need to pick up the pace."

He winked at Cora as he walked past her and towards the forest. The rest of them stood in place for a brief time.

"Is he serious?" Wick asked in exasperation, "We can't just listen to him."

"I think we should rest, I don't feel so well," Penny added.

Cora racked her teeth against her bottom lip and turned around to look at Atlas disappearing into the nighttime woods, "We shouldn't just sit here in the open," she quietly said, "Let's get a move on."

"You trust this guy?" Wick challenged.

"You seemed to trust him enough to follow him through the tunnels earlier," Cora combated.

"But he could be leading us into a trap!"

"You know I can hear that, right?" Atlas shouted from the tree line, laughing under his breath as he watched them blather.

"I don't trust him," Penny stammered, shaking her head and peering back up to the mouth of the tunnel.

Cora tried to hide the smile on her face as she glanced at Wick, "Well I do, I'm following him."

She could hear Penny and Wick discussing and bantering as she walked towards Atlas. Her silver eyes looked up as she stopped at his side.

"So now you trust me?"

Her eyebrow arched, slowly she shrugged, "Not really but I don't think they'd follow if I hadn't said that."

He smiled mischievously, "Right."

With heavy feet and tired eyes they began their journey through the wilderness that lay between the territories the Capitol had control over and the rest of Panem. Cora could smell the ice in the air. Snow started to fall from the sky. From the east a breeze of chilling freedom kissed their faces, and behind them, from the west, the sound of howls and Peacekeepers echoed.


	5. The Betrayal

**The Betrayal**

It had been a week's journey through the wilderness. Snow had accumulated on the branches and the ground. Stretches of land lay in between them and District 10. Unlike the forests of District 7, these were interrupted by expanses of lakes and meadows. They were heading north again. Steering away from the southern Districts for fear that they were too close to the growing front of the Capitol.

The first few days were not easy ones. The snow had slowed them down considerably and the more they moved towards the north the colder the icy climate grew. The only food they had were the meager supplies that were gathered in District 7 and some of Atlas' rations.

They were walking in a line, a few paces away from each other. The only sound that could be heard was the rattling of frozen branches in response to the wind. Cora had kept her dark hair down and wrapped a raggedy piece of fabric around her neck to keep warm. Her fair cheeks were rosy from the cold, and snow collected on her eyelashes and shoulders. She could hear her boots crunch into the dry powder and despite the double layer of socks she was wearing, the cold made her toes ache. She had spent the past days mulling over what Atlas had said when she first met him. The idea that the Libertarians had been infiltrated was cause for alarm. Without trust between rebels the Uprising would slowly crumbled. However, despite her skepticism of Atlas' opinions she hadn't spoken to Penny or Wick about what had been said. Deep down she was afraid that he was right.

The dim light of the sky reflected off the snow and into her eyes illuminating the silver spectrum of her irises, a color that could only be described in a comparison to steel. The only positive outcome of the journey towards District 10 was that they were able to walk during daylight hours. They were now in, what was considered, safe territory. Instead of hiding when they arrived at the District they would be greeted by fellow rebels. She twitched her eyes around the blue sky and glimpses of the sun that expelled through the skeleton branches overhead.

"Missed the sunshine?" She hadn't noticed that Atlas had caught up with her. Gradually her eyes peered up at him and then back to the snowy ground. Although they were far from any enemy ears they still whispered out of habit.

"I was in District 7 for a month," She quietly responded, "I didn't think I was ever going to see daylight again."

"I think I know what you mean."

Her breath rose towards the sun as she maneuvered her way down a small rocky slope. She steadied her footing by holding the trunk of a nearby tree. The stitches in her arm had been removed a day ago, but her arm still was not fully healed. Quicker than Cora, Atlas leaped over the rocks and landed on the ground spryly, adjusting his bag as he peered ahead at Wick and Penny, who were still moving without looking back.

"You didn't talk at all, last night," He added.

She scanned him up and down before starting to walk once more, "I didn't have anything to say."

"Still angry about how we met, huh?"

She pursed her lips, gliding her tongue over her cold teeth. This was actually not the case at all. Although she didn't fully trust Atlas Norewood, or even like him particularly, she felt a bond. She couldn't explain why but when he was close she felt connected to someone, something she hadn't felt since her parents' death.

"No," she whispered, dropping her eyes to her boots, "I was just tired."

"You were upset last night," He leaned towards her slightly as they continued walked side by side.

In confusion she peered to him and furrowed her brow, "What?"

A smile formed on his lips, a smile that Cora was becoming all too used to, "You were talking in your sleep."

Her eyes narrowed, she was more embarrassed than mad, "Oh—" a bone chilling breeze cascaded through the woods, "What did I say?"

"Well—that's between me and your unconscious mind."

In agitation she wacked a few branches out of her path and rolled her eyes, "You're pretentious."

"I've heard worse, kid," He quipped, quietly laughing as he adjusted his rucksack.

In front of them, Wick slightly peered around for a second before continuing his walk.

"Kid?" She jeered softly, clenching her teeth.

"You may be famous in some circles, mainly on most wanted lists, but I've got a one up on you."

"You make it sound like you're old and wise."

"I'm eighteen in the midst of Uprising against a horrifying government, I feel like I'm my grandfather."

"I thought you looked a little grey around the ears."

Pleasant surprise overtook Atlas' face as he boyishly grinned at Cora and turned his face to her, "You're developing a sense of humor."

"Developing?" She arched her eyebrows with a smirk as she pushed through more low branches, "I've always had one."

Atlas never replied, though his smile didn't disappear. Instead he walked ahead, his long legs easily maneuvering around roots and rocks with efficiency. For the rest of the journey there was silence. It was winter and the sun was setting fast. As the day slowly transitioned into evening Cora's eyes took in the sight of the horizon. Orange, pink and deep yellows poured across the sky. They were slowing down. Having walked all day with only a few breaks their legs and bodies had become fatigued. It was after another mile that they stopped, finding refuge from the snow in a burrow between a few closely nestled trees. It took them a few minutes to start a fire, and as the flames danced in excitement Cora leaned as close as she could.

"I'm going to scavenge for food—" Atlas finally said, "Does anyone want to join, I could use an extra pair of hands and eyes?"

After a brief pause Wick climbed to his feet and shivered, "I'll come."

"Are you sure this is necessary?" Cora protested, leaning her face and hands closer to the fire, "We still have a few rations left."

"It won't last, better to stock up—just in case," Wick replied, nodding his head towards the crawl space that led to the outside. Without looking back, Atlas quickly crept out of the burrow.

Wick was just about to follow when abruptly he glanced back and smiled, "I won't be long."

The fire crackled and hissed in response to the moisture that was continuously trying to diminish the flames. As Cora loaded the makeshift hearth with more dried wood the hissing increased. She sat quietly next to Penny for some time before speaking.

"How are you feeling?" She whispered, blinking her eyes to Penny's auburn curls.

Penny rubbed her lips together and rocked in place, "Cold."

Cora laughed in amusement, hugging her arms around her body to keep warm, "Yea—I could go for a tub of hot water right about now."

"Or some warm bread, fresh off the stove."

She smiled despite her grumbling stomach, "Hopefully they find something out there."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"You and Atlas have gotten close," Penny suddenly said, glancing at Cora with scrutiny.

She parted her lips and creased her brow: "Have we? I hadn't noticed."

"I don't like him," Penny's voice was raw and vehement, "He has a funny way about him."

"Well he led us out of the tunnels well enough, if it wasn't for him we would have been caught," She dropped her eyes to the fire after she spoke, not knowing why she was defending him.

"I bet he doesn't even know what he's doing."

Cora shifted uncomfortably, her eyes moving from the fire to the ground near Penny's bag. What protruded out of the bag would have never caught her eye in the fleeting light of the fire if it weren't for a small dot of green that flashed. Discreetly she squinted her eyes and tilted her head. At first it just look like a black blob but as she forced her eyes to focus, further, she realized what it was: a transceiver.

"What are you looking at?" Penny exclaimed, glaring at Cora in confusion.

Cora turned away, shifting her legs, "Nothing—I just, I thought I saw a spider."

"We have bigger things to worry about than spiders."

Nervously Cora brushed her hair behind her ears and bit her lip. She heard Atlas' doubt about Penny echoing through her head. She could feel her heart beating rapidly against her ribs. She didn't want to believe that Penny would be capable of such a thing as betrayal. _There must be a reason for her not telling us that she has a transceiver_, Cora thought to herself, but she couldn't think of why.

Noticing Cora's sudden bout of strange behavior, Penny poked at the fire and squinted her eyes, "Are you okay? You look like you've gone pale."

"I—" Cora paused, twitching her eyes towards the sound of voices, "I'm just hungry," she finished just as the boys returned with food. She was glad that a distraction had arrived.

"We found two squirrels," Wick announced holding one up to the light of the fire.

"Good, I'm starving," Penny sighed.

Almost immediately they started to skin the rodents. Soon the meat was ready.

Although she was hungry and the charred meat of the squirrel was filling, Cora couldn't keep her thoughts away from the impending doom she was feeling. Occasionally her eyes would peer at Penny's bag, even when the transceiver was concealed she could see it in her mind's eyes, it's small light flashing.

Though all of them spoke it was of nothing important, it was all small talk. Just discussions to keep their minds off the cold and away from the rebellion. Time passed and the flames of the fire died down. Cora's fingers were like ice as the grappled for a blanket from her bag. She couldn't sleep that night. Her eyes remained wide and unblinking. Her hand rested on the hilt of her knife in preparation for any defense. Since the Uprising had started Cora had felt drained and devastated, but this was the first time she was truly scared. By morning, dark circles had formed under her eyes.

It was just before sunrise that Cora saw movement. She tried to remain as still as possible. Penny was fumbling for something in her bag, after a few moments Cora waited as Penny quietly crawled out of the burrow with whatever was in her hand. She was only gone briefly, and when she returned Cora couldn't help noticing the look on her friend's face. The expression seemed tense and sick. An hour passed before everyone roused and packed up their belongings, leaving the glowing embers of the fire behind and heading towards the cold. It was a challenge for Cora not to tell Atlas of what she had seen that morning or the night before. In thought she kept her eyes on the ground, afraid to face what seemed to be the undeniable truth.

They were a few miles into their journey when birds began to chatter, Cora narrowed her eyes towards the sky to see crows flying overhead from the south. She came to a sudden stop. The only one who noticed was Atlas, who also froze. His dark eyes traveled overhead and then back to Cora, "What are you doing?"

Her eyes followed the birds, "What?"

"Why did you stop?"

She glanced to Atlas and then behind her, "It's just—we've been walking through these woods for more than a week now and we haven't disturbed the birds or any other animals. It seems—" her eyes looked back towards the sky, "—odd."

Atlas peered around, "There aren't any Peacekeepers this close to District 10 and the ones from District 5 wouldn't have been able to follow us."

"Right—" she whispered, twitching her eyes around the woods, "Unless they were tipped off."

"What?" He murmured, feeling panic rise in his chest. His dark eyes glanced to Wick and Penny who were unaware of the conversation that was going on.

"Nothing," She shook her head and abruptly broke into a slow pace walk, "It's nothing."

With concern Atlas narrowed his eyes and adjusted his bag. He didn't start walking right away, his eyes traveled towards the birds above for a moment. He listened to the caws and screeches as another large flock of crows flew above them. There was no other noise apart from those birds. After as much satisfaction as he could muster he followed Cora, but occasionally he looked behind.

It was after some time that they came to a frozen lake. When they came to the clearing they stopped, examining the situation before resting a while. Cora waited to be alone with Penny before she spoke again.

"I forgot to ask," She slowly said, trying to seem as casual as possible, "Did you find what you dropped?"

Penny arched her eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

Cora studied everything about Penny, not only her reactions but also her posture, she seemed on edge, more so than she had ever been, "Back in the tunnels, you left for a while because you said you dropped something."

There were a few seconds of silence before Penny blinked her eyes and looked away, "Oh yea—right, it was a flashlight I got off one of the Peacekeepers, I couldn't find it, it was too hard with all the water."

Cora crossed her arms, leaning against the frozen trunk of a tree as she narrowed her eyes, "You went back for a flashlight?"

"I thought it might come in handy. What's wrong with you? You've been acting weird since last night."

She forced a smile onto her face and dropped her eyes, she knew that Penny was lying, "I think the cold's getting to me."

"Yea, I think it's getting to everyone," Penny sarcastically replied, sighing as she rose to her feet, "Well we're probably getting back to the trek soon, I'm going to look for a creak before we do, so we can have fresh water."

"Alright—we should be in District 10 by nightfall," Cora quickly reminded, watching Penny with caution, "You know how Atlas is with time, you better be quick."

Although Cora let herself smile, the smile faded as soon as Penny disappeared into the woods. She waited a few minutes before climbing to her feet and peering towards the boys. They were resting at the crest of the frozen lake. She licked her lips, immediately regretting it because of the cold. She knew that she should tell Atlas or Wick what she was about to do but she didn't have time. Without giving it a second thought she began to follow Penny's trail. She had waited several minutes so she wasn't directly behind her. Luckily it wasn't snowing so the footprints were still in sight.

Although it was hard to move through the crunchy snow without noise, Cora tried the best she could. From time to time she would dodge behind a tree, afraid that she would be seen. Inside she felt sick, she tried to repress the contempt that was building towards Penny. She had been working side by side with this girl for over a month now, she didn't want to think that someone she had grown to care about would be capable of such a deceitful threat. The abrupt buzz of white noise cut through the still woods and her thoughts, quickly she darted behind a tree. Penny was only a few yards away now and when Cora peered from behind the trunk she saw that Penny had the transceiver in her hand.

"_Are you in a secure location?"_

She watched as Penny looked around, "Affirmative."

Cora was still in denial, after all the voice on the other end could be anybody.

"_We've got a location on you, we're heading your way, only a few clicks now. It should be less than a minute—" _

Panic swept over Cora's body, her silver eyes darted around the woods until another flurry of caws began screeching, and a flock of birds flew overhead. Her lips parted. She had been right. They were being followed.

Low murmurs of crunching footsteps sounded, Cora didn't want to look back, afraid of what she would see. But with determination she forced herself. Her head tilted to the side, her eyes focusing on the figures that were emerging from the woods, their outfits causing her heart to drop. Peacekeepers. Not three or even four, but ten. They walked into the small clearing where Penny stood.

"I hope you weren't lying," The Peacekeeper at the forefront finally said.

Penny shook her head, "There near the lake, just a few minutes walk that way."

Cora cupped her hand over her mouth. She wanted to scream. Atlas was right. How could she be stupid enough to not notice something like this? He had only been with them a few hours before suspecting something and Cora had been with her for a month.

"As agreed, you and your family will be given amnesty for your help," The Peacekeeper said.

Cora was sure she was going to throw up. Her hand groped for her knife instinctively, suddenly everything started to make sense: why Penny didn't want to follow Atlas, why she had gone back into the tunnels, why she had crept out of the burrow earlier that morning and why she never wanted to leave District 7. But at the same time nothing made sense. Cora thought that Penny was loyal to the cause, everything that Penny had said pointed to it. What could have happened to change her mind? She pressed her back against the roughness of the tree as she realized the only possibility there was. The Capitol had taken her family into custody when they took back District 7 and now Penny was trading her friends' lives for her family. She didn't feel sorry for Penny, she felt hate. Hate that Penny was so easily manipulated by the Capitol. They promised her and her family freedom from punishment and she agreed, selling her comrades to the Capitol like pieces of bread at the market.

She didn't waste another second. Without another thought Cora swiftly broke into a run. As silently as she could, she sprinted through the woods. She didn't look back, knowing that would only slow her down. By the time she slipped down the slope and was back at the clearing she was out of breath. She frantically waved to Wick and Atlas, bolting towards them as quickly as possible. They only had a matter of minutes to move.

Atlas straightened his back in alarm, "Cora? What's going on?"

Wick spun around.

She rested her palms on her knees and leaned over, "We need to leave now!"

"What?"

"Peacekeepers! They know where we are and they are coming," She tightened the straps of her bag and peered to the frozen lake.

"How do they know? There was no way we left a trail!" Wick exclaimed.

Cora felt her eyes tear up, something that almost never happened, "Pen—Penny."

"We need to find her before we leave," Wick jerked his head around in search, not realizing what Cora was trying to say, "Where is she?"

"No," Cora parted her lips, she felt a tear roll down her cheek, "She's with them."

"No—" His blue eyes tragically studied Cora's face, "No! I don't believe you."

Atlas remained silently, his eyes darted to a flock of birds that sudden appeared from the top of the trees and flew overhead, "Oh my god—" he grabbed Wick's arm, "She's right, we need to leave now!"

"No!" He screamed shoving Atlas.

Cora shook her head, "I'm sorry, Wick, I didn't want to believe it but she lied, she's been lying to us! I saw them."

Atlas' eyes were on the woods, "I'm leaving," he hissed, taking a few steps onto the lake before looking back, "Cora?"

She peered between Wick and Atlas, "I'm not leaving without him!"

Atlas clenched his jaw, widening his eyes in a way Cora had never seen before, "We don't have time for this!"

She ignored Atlas, turning her attention back to Wick, urgently.

"Wick—I'm not lying to you—" she felt like her heart was going to explode, "Please!" She shook him violently but he was frozen in place.

"I don't believe you, she would never—" tears were streaming down his face.

Atlas suddenly darted towards Cora. He barely stopped before he grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder, "I'm sorry, Cora, but I'm not leaving you to be killed!"

"Let go of me!" She cried out, reaching out towards Wick, who was motionless. She could feel Atlas breaking into a run and peered down to see cracks forming into the frozen surface of the lake.

She tried to fight against Atlas but he was too strong. With her slung over his shoulder he had to steady himself on the ice but his run only slowed slightly. He could hear the ice breaking as he pummeled his feet against the thin layers of frost. It was only the beginning of winter and the ice easily began cracking under his footing.

"Atlas, no!" She wailed, beating his back violently, "Let me go back!"

Her eyes looked up just as the Peacekeepers emerged from the woods. She could hear the shouting, Wick's voice, and then a gunshot.

"I'm sorry—" Atlas whispered, knowing what that gunshot meant.

Even from the distance Atlas had run she could see the blood that sprayed onto the snow as Wick dropped to the ground. In agony a pained scream echoed from her lungs, tears fell down her cheeks. Atlas ran for several minutes, all the while the Peacekeepers followed. They tried to shoot at them, but the distance was too great for their handguns. She felt numb as Atlas jumped to the firm ground and threw her on a snow bank. He only paused for a second before running back towards the frozen lake.

In fear of losing someone else she reached out for him, "What are you doing?"

He dropped his bag and pulled a gun and steel ax from it before peering up at her, "I'll be back!"

Atlas groaned as he ran towards them. He was only a few feet in-lake before he pointed the gun at the ice and pulled the trigger three times. Long cracks started to form in the icy surface. All he needed was a crack long enough to make the whole lake unstable, with ice as thin as this it wouldn't take that much effort. With force he bashed the ax into the ice, grimacing as it started to break. The Peacekeepers were coming closer, they fired on him but missed. He darted several feet to the left and then to the right, bashing the ice in over and over again. After only seconds the ice ripped opened, revealing the cold hell that waited below. He nodded in dulled gratification and peered up at the Peacekeepers before running back towards Cora. Without asking he picked her up and started running once more.

"They're too close!" She screamed in worry, "We won't make it!"

He groaned in response to the burden of his load, quickening his pace as much as he could, "Trust me—they're not making it past that lake! All we need is one of them to fall in."

Just as he said that they heard the first splash, and then another splash. The Peacekeepers had run too close to the broken ice. This didn't stop Atlas, if anything it caused him to run faster. Cora felt her lips tremble. She was disoriented. Her mind replayed the flash of blood and Wick's lifeless body falling to the ground over and over again.

Miles of running passed. Miles of uncertainty.

Atlas didn't stop until he was sure that they were not being followed.

Snow started to fall as he lowered Cora to the ground and gasp for air.

"We can rest for a minute but—"

She scornfully looked at him before lifting her fist and punching him across the face with a scream so terrible it echoed throughout the woods. She took a few steps back. Her eyes were tearing, "You let him die!"

Calmly, Atlas cupped his jaw and looked to her, "He wasn't thinking clearly, he wasn't listening! If I hadn't taken you, you would have died too."

"Maybe I should have!"

Sudden silence crawled between them. The snow gently fell through the naked canopy of the trees onto them as they stare at one another.

"I'm sorry," He tried to walk towards her but she took another set of steps backwards.

"Don't touch me," she whispered, looking at the sky as tears rolled down her cheeks. The grief was overwhelming, and as she clasped her hand over her mouth a whimper murmured from her lips.

He didn't listen, slowly he walked towards her, wrapping his arms around her and cradling her head close to his chest, "I'm sorry," he repeated.

"I lost all my friends—" her voice trembled through the cries, "She just let him get shot!"

He softly stroked her hair and back, "I know."

"She was going to let us all die—how could she do that?"

Atlas clenched his jaw and tightened his hold on her body, "I won't let you get hurt, alright. It's you and me."

She shuddered against him.

"You're not alone," he whispered, "I'm here—I'm right here."

Her eyes darkly peered around the woods as she pressed her face against Atlas' chest. Suddenly the winter air didn't feel as cold as it had that morning, nothing could match the iciness she felt in her heart.

A few miles south, birds pecked at the lifeless body of a boy that would never be seen again, though his name would go on through his brother's. His name was Wick Mellark.

* * *

_**Hello all! Hope you enjoyed this latest chapter! If you are liking the story it would mean a lot to me if you would review and leave feedback. As always thanks for reading and I can't wait for you guys to see how the story will unfold!**_


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